The Accident
by Porter Bailey
Summary: Mr. Baldwin is in a car accident, and Ms. Lips rushes to be with him in the ER.
The Accident: A Baldwin/Lips Fiction

Lulu Lips was curled up in her favorite chair, flipping through another self-help book to pass the time. Her cable was out, and it wouldn't be fixed until the end of the week, so she took the opportunity to catch up on her reading. Curling her sundry tentacles underneath her, she took another sip of her Nuit Poisson brand tea. It was a near perfect evening. Lulu glanced over at her bookmark that was perched on the side table, a snapshot of her and her boyfriend, Daniel Baldwin, picnicking at Freshwater Park.

"Cupcake," she sighed, "I know we just had a date, but I already miss you. Is that selfish?"

The photograph of Baldwin didn't reply. He was busy feeding photographed Lulu a kelp sandwich.

"Maybe. Oh well. I still have you, Attila," she said. Lulu stroked the purring cat resting in her lap. Attila meowed contently. He flexed his paws and dug his sharp claws into the surface of Ms. Lips' dress.

Lulu was able to get in a few more pages of the book before being interrupted. The phone set on her side table started ringing. It startled Ms. Lips so much that her suckers instinctively clung to her book.

"Oh," she groaned, "stupid things."

She tried shaking the book loose, but to no avail. Lulu sighed, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lu," Baldwin's tired voice sighed on the other line.

"Cupcake! What a nice surprise? What are you up to?" Lulu cheered instantly, shaking the book loose from her grip.

"That's kind of why I called. Are you sitting down?"

"Yes," Lulu said hesitantly. "Why?"

"I've…I've been in a bit of…of an accident."

"What?!" Lulu shrieked, leaping out of her chair, catapulting Attila across the room.

"Deep breaths. I'm okay."

"Where ARE you?!"

"ER. Freshwater General, but I'm-"

Lulu Lips didn't give her boyfriend time to finish. She slammed the phone back into its cradle. Hurrying to the door, she snagged her purse off the kitchen table.

"Sorry, Attila," Ms. Lips said, pausing in the doorway, "Mama's gotta' go."

Mr. Baldwin heard the "beep, beep" in the receiver, signaling that Ms. Lips was no longer on the phone with him.

"Well, she hung up on me. Can't say I didn't see that coming," he sighed.

"Do you think she's coming?" Marc asked.

"Think?" Daniel chuckled. He swiftly followed up with a cringe.

"Your chest?"

"Yeah," Dan said, rubbing the area of his ribs. At least one had been broken, he was sure of it. But if he was lucky, his ribs would be the only things broken by the accident.

His tail felt about the same, and he could move both of his arms, meaning they were also fine. And despite a raging headache, most likely from the shock of the crash, Baldwin didn't think he had a concussion. Despite some minor cuts and bruises, and his shirt being a little torn, he looked pretty put together for having just been in a car crash. He wouldn't admit it, trying not to bother Marc more than he already did, but Daniel was worried about the babies. At least a little bit. The airbag had hit him in the chest instead of the stomach, as far as he could remember, but the EMT only insisted he go to the ER after Dan had confessed he was pregnant. Nothing had been confirmed to Baldwin either way about them being fine or otherwise, and he was left waiting anxiously for any results.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Baldwin asked.

"Sure thing, Dan."

"Would you mind running by my apartment and picking up a few things?"

"Do you think they'll keep you overnight?" Marc asked.

"I don't know, but either way I'm not going back home. Lulu will undoubtedly take me back to her place," Baldwin predicted.

He scribbled a short list onto a set of sticky notes the hospital had sitting on the bedside table. He shoved the folded paper and his key ring into Marc's hand and gave him a salute.

"Adios," Dan said.

"You'll be alright by yourself?"

"I won't be alone long."

"Alright. I'll be back in an hour," Marc promised, and swam out the door.

Daniel shifted his weight in the bed, cringing at the stabbing pains in his chest. He glanced up at the IV pole, it's drip becoming quite hypnotizing. Aside from keeping him hydrated, the machine was also monitoring his vitals, as well as the babies'. He massaged the side of his bump and tried to remain calm. He knew getting worked up over potentially nothing wouldn't do him any good. Still, he couldn't suppress the nagging feeling that something was off.

A nurse came into the room to draw his blood. Aside from some basic chit chat, she didn't say anything of any real importance. When Baldwin asked about the ultrasound, she said that the tech would come get him "soon." Which really meant she had no idea when they'd really come get him. She left as quickly as she arrived, and Baldwin was left alone to brood on his thoughts. It was a difficult thing to think about, but Baldwin kept returning to what his state of mind was at the beginning of his pregnancy. He'd often thought what a relief it'd be for something to come along and just end the pregnancy for him. A miscarriage or…an accident. Even at some points, his own death didn't sound too terrible. And while the other fish in his life knew that he wasn't exactly gung ho about becoming a parent, they didn't exactly know the extent of his dark thoughts. Which is why it was such a shock to Baldwin when, after the car accident, he was terrified at the thought that he might actually lose the babies. He'd come a long way.

Dan curled up on his side and hugged his stomach. He felt dazed and vaguely nauseous. Mostly he was numb to the world. Through the small window on his door, Dan watched the various creatures swim up and down the hospital hallway. He wondered what their various emergencies were, and if any of them were in a similar predicament. Minutes passed, but it felt like hours. Someone stepped in front of his door and began fiddling with the handle. He thought at first it might be another nurse, but Lulu entered the room instead.

"Hey," Dan said, and attempted to sit back up.

"Oh, Cod," Lulu said, rushing over to his side.

"I'm alright. I-"

Baldwin didn't finish. Lulu wrapped her tentacles around his torso and squeezed him close. He relaxed into her embrace, allowing himself the brief moment to feel vulnerable. He rested his forehead on her shoulder, suddenly feeling utterly drained. On the verge of tears. Lulu pulled back, gripping his shoulders, looking Daniel square in the eyes.

"What happened? Tell me everything," Lulu said, firm but not scolding.

Baldwin blinked slowly, trying to find words. He adjusted his glasses.

"There…there was another car. It pulled out in front of me, I'm not sure the driver was even looking. I swerved, but my car skidded, and I couldn't put the brakes on fast enough. The front of my car smashed into the wall of the tank."

"Oh my Cod. Did the airbag deploy?" Lulu looked concernedly at Dan's gravid stomach.

"Not before I slammed my head on the steering wheel. They don't think I've had a concussion, but I've got whiplash for sure."

"Where did the airbag hit you?"

"My chest."

"Are you sure?"

"I think it broke one of my ribs," Daniel nodded.

"How's your car? Totaled?"

"No, but it's not in good shape, either. Front end is pretty messed up. Enough force to crack the tank, but not enough to shatter it. Thank goodness."

"So, you're alright?" She asked.

"As far as I can tell," Daniel said.

"And…the babies?"

Dan shifted his weight on the bed, leaning back at a strange angle between sitting and laying down. Lulu sat on the side of the hospital bed, putting one of her tentacles into Baldwin's hands.

"I don't know," he sighed. "They haven't told me anything yet."

"What about a sonogram?" Lulu asked. Her heart was pounding at the mere thought of something being wrong.

"They haven't done it yet. I'm still waiting for the tech to come get me."

"Oh," she said, forcing herself to calm down.

"Ah," Dan sucked in a breath, fighting a tense expression, and placed a hand on the side of his brood pouch.

"What is it? You okay?" Lulu asked.

Daniel realized the panic he'd awakened in her, and gave Lu a small smile.

"Just moving. Rather violently, though."

Baldwin placed Lulu's tentacle on the spot where the fry were squirming. The biggest smile grew on her face, and a similar one spread across his. Daniel loved having any chance he could get to see Lulu's beautiful smile. Baldwin leaned up and pecked her cheek. She kissed his bruised forehead.

"Are you here all by yourself?" Lulu asked.

"Well, currently I'm with you."

"You know what I meant, smart Alek," Lulu rolled her eyes.

"Marc was here, but I asked him to run by my apartment to grab some things. He left a little bit before you got here."

Lulu moved to a nearby chair, but her tentacle remained wrapped around one of Dan's hands.

"I was so scared when you said you were in the hospital. It was like someone ripped my heart out of my chest," Lulu said.

Baldwin's chest hurt, but not from the rib pain this time. He felt awful. He had never meant to worry Lulu, though it was admittedly unavoidable. He knew it would startle anyone to say the sentence "I was in the ER." But someone would startle even more so if that trip to the ER was made by a loved one.

"I never meant to scare you. I just wanted you here," he said. It was all he could say.

"Oh I know, cupcake. I'm not mad at you. But how am I supposed to feel when my boyfriend, my i _pregnant_ /i boyfriend, has been in a car accident?"

Mr. Baldwin squeezed the tentacle in his grip, still feeling completely guilt-ridden. He massaged the top of his bump with his second hand, knowing he'd feel even guiltier if he'd not come to the ER at all. Daniel lay on his side again, letting the hand Lulu had kidnapped hang off the side of the bed. He was trying hard not to fall asleep, in case he did have a concussion, but he was unbelievably exhausted. He counted the dots on Lulu's dress, getting up to 15 before there was a knock on the door. A young female fish poked her head in the doorway.

"Hi. Baldwin, is it?" She said. She was cautiously eyeing a chart in her fin.

"I'm he," Dan said.

"I'm Suzy. I'm the ultrasound tech. I'm here to take you to your sonogram."

"Fantastic," Daniel sighed, truly relieved by this plot development.

Ms. Lips watched idly as the nurse pulled up Baldwin's gown and removed a monitoring band from around his stomach. Lulu helped Dan get out of the bed and into the provided wheelchair. She rolled the IV pole up to the tech.

"I'll be seeing you, then," Lulu said, kissing his forehead again.

"You can come with, if you want," Daniel said.

Lulu eyed the technician, who shrugged, as if to say "none of my business."

"You don't mind?"

"Not in the slightest," Baldwin chuckled.

"Well, I've never watched an ultrasound before."

"By all means, you should come!"

As soon as Lulu floated by his side, Daniel clamped his hand onto her nearest tentacle. Lulu understood immediately. He needed her; she was the moral support.

"Comfy?" Lips asked as Baldwin settled in the exam chair.

He gave her the "so-so" hand gesture, and shrugged. The technician clicked on the computer and proceeded to adjust a few settings. Lulu massaged the nape of Daniel's neck. He rested a hand on top of her tentacle and gave a light squeeze.

"Sore?" She asked.

"Neck pain's setting in," he commented.

The tech lifted up Baldwin's gown, bunching it over his very swollen brood pouch. Even in the room's dim light, both Baldwin and Lips noted the few deep green bruises that were clustered near the sealed pouch opening. There were also some larger, darker bruises around his chest, which explained the pain. Dan grinded his teeth anxiously; he hadn't noticed those before, and cursed himself for it. Lulu squeezed his hand again. The technician coated the head of the wand in warm petroleum jelly. She placed a firm fin on the top of Daniel's belly, and the wand close by. He grimaced at the contact on the bruises, but tried to sit still. Lulu took one of his hands and clasped it between her two tentacles. She kissed his fingers that peeked outside, and eyed the flickering monitor.

"Whoa," Lips sighed.

The screen flicked in black and white, and what looked to be a giant grouping of white blobs clustered together in a black void. Tiny lines of black seemed to separate each blob, but not by much, and some overlapped. Daniel glanced back over at his girlfriend to find her expression a mixture of awe and perplexity.

"What do you think? Kinda neat, huh?" Dan said.

"Yeah. I…I'm sorry, I have no idea what I'm looking at," Lulu confessed.

Baldwin snorted and let out a short cackle.

"Don't laugh at me!" Lulu snapped, pinching his arm. She was blushing furiously; she hated feeling dumb.

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because that is the exact same thing I said the first time I had one of these scans," Daniel sighed, incredibly amused.

"So, it's not a stupid statement?"

"Don't worry, it's not stupid. But, uh, I am about to blow your mind," he grinned.

"How so?" She smirked.

Daniel held up one finger, and, with permission from the tech, slightly adjusted the screen so it could be seen easier.

"Look here." He said, pointing to a part of the screen. To Lulu, he was gesturing to absolutely nothing.

"I'm confused, Danny. Where are the babies?"

"You're looking right at them. They're right there."

Lulu stared harder, but finally shrugged in defeat.

"Okay, look. Right here. One, two, three…"

Lulu's mouth fell open in utter shock. Daniel was counting all the white dots! He stopped at about 17, or when he could tell she'd gotten the memo. Looking closer at the screen, Lulu began to make out the outlines of tails and heads. Her eyes were bigger than dinner plates.

"You mean…"

"Mm'hm."

"Those white dots..."

"You're getting there."

"Are all…"

"Bingo."

"Oh my COD!" Lulu gasped, a little louder than she'd planned.

"I know, right? My heart nearly stopped when I had my first scan." Dan continued, grin big as anything.

Lulu continued to stare, not knowing really what else to do.

"You okay?" Baldwin asked.

"Cupcake, when you kept telling me you were having 'babies'," Lulu used the quotations gesture, "I assumed you meant like quads, or at the very most octuplets, but…whoo boy! How…how many babies i _are/i_ there, exactly?"

"They don't know."

"Stop fooling. I've had enough of a shock for one evening, thank you."

"I'm not joking," Baldwin insisted, his face plain. "The doctors keep losing count. Besides, the fry keep shifting around, so it's easy to lose track."

"It's normal," the technician said, moving the screen back, "most seahorses have this many. It's more uncommon to have a lesser amount. I'd say, because you're of a smaller species, probably in the forty to one-hundred range."

Lulu mouthed the numbers to herself, trying to make them sink in further.

"Well, there you go. Best estimation I've had this entire pregnancy," Baldwin sighed.

The tech swerved the wand across Baldwin's expanse, the monitor showing nothing but an ongoing picture of clustered white dots. Lulu couldn't decide whether she felt amazed or queasy. Probably a bit of each.

"Your brood pouch is a gosh darned paradox. That's insane," she said.

"No, what's insane is when they're all moving at once, or what I can imagine is all of them. _iNow/i_ you know why I can't sleep at night!" Daniel smirked.

As if on cue, Lulu saw a smidge of movement under the seahorse's skin, and the movement flickered on the screen as well. Lulu was mesmerized, looking intently at the monitor. Baldwin was watching Ms. Lips' eyes, how bright and intense they'd become, and he smiled. The technician spent a few more minutes taking ultrasonic pictures until finally handing Baldwin a small towel and clicking off the computer.

"All done," the tech said.

"Now what?" Dan asked.

"Now I get these pictures to your doctor, and you can go back to your room. He'll be with you shortly," she said, a small flash drive tucked in her fin.

"Wait, so, you can't tell us anything?" Lulu said, sounding concerned.

"I'm just the tech, ma'am. I'm not allowed to give any information, good or bad," she explained.

Lulu's shoulders fell and she nodded quietly. The tech swam out of the room, leaving the squid and seahorse alone in the dark room.

"Well," Baldwin sighed, still dabbing up the goop, "that's that."

He swung his rather swollen tail off the side of the table. Lulu carefully helped him upright again.

"Nice gown, by the way," Lulu said.

"I think it's lovely. One size fits all!" Dan snorted. It was at least five sizes too big.

"Allegedly."

"Yes, a little large, but it makes me feel skinny," he grinned.

Lulu hugged him close to her chest, not sure what else to do at that moment. Baldwin melted into her embrace, smelling the vague remnants of her perfume. They stayed there, holding each other for a moment, his arms around her neck, hers resting on the small of his back. They leaned their foreheads together, quietly breathing. Lulu felt Daniel's stomach pressing against her own midriff. He looked down, sighing.

"Ever feel like there's something between us?" Baldwin smirked.

"Pssh. That wasn't even original. You stole that," Lulu groaned.

"I have to practice! I need to have a collection of dad jokes!"

"Get in the chair, stupid."

It had been almost two hours since the ultrasound. Nurses came and went, checking Baldwin's blood pressure and the range of movement in his stiff neck, but little to no information was ever given about anything. Marc also came and went. Seeing that Baldwin was settled with Lulu there, Marc decided he'd just be in the way. So he left the bag of requested goods and left him in capable hands. Or, tentacles, to be specific.

Mostly, Daniel and Lulu waited and waited, feeling like they were in a bizarre vacuum of time and space. No outside world logic applied to the ER. They might as well have been waiting for days. Lulu tried to distract herself with her phone, but found herself eyeing her boyfriend half of the time. Baldwin idly pulled at the loose strings on his gown, and curled and uncurled his tail, trying to get the swelling to go down. The fetal monitoring belt was around his stomach again, but there hadn't been any change all night. The fry were still moving and he wasn't feeling any pain.

But Baldwin couldn't shake the nagging paranoia. Especially since he kept having intrusive thoughts about the car crash. It played like a recording over and over in his mind's eye. Feeling the car impacting against tank wall, his head whipping forward against the steering wheel, his chest being smashed by the air bag as the tank glass splintered and his head smacked back against the headrest. That awful feeling of desperately trying to inhale, while feeling smothered by a pillow. Baldwin sat quietly in the bed, keeping his thoughts to himself. He felt the nausea welling up inside him, his body tightened.

"Why aren't they coming to talk to us? It shouldn't be taking this long," Baldwin said.

"ERs are like this. I suppose we just have to be patient," Lips sighed.

Baldwin went quiet. He suddenly felt tears welling in his eyes, the mental replay of the crash becoming too much. Despite holding it together for most of their time in the emergency room, Daniel's emotional dam had finally cracked.

"What if something really i _is_ /i wrong?" Baldwin finally choked out. He placed his head in his hands and began crying raggedly, taking shuddering breaths every few seconds.

"Hey," Lulu said, scrambling to his side. "There, there. It's alright."

"What if something's wrong…and they aren't telling us?" He said, provoking more tears.

"They'd tell us," Ms. Lips clutched his hand and sat next to him on the bed.

Baldwin removed his glasses and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Cod, I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Don't be," Lulu petted his hair.

"It's just…oh, the irony," he laughed, but it was bitter.

"How do you mean?"

Baldwin shook his head.

"You can tell me."

"I can't. It's…it's really hard."

Daniel heaved himself off the bed and quietly paced the room. He gripped his IV pole in one hand and rubbed his neck with the other.

"Daniel," Lulu said, quite sincere, "please tell me what's wrong. I only want to help."

He initially shook his head, straining against the tears. But he abruptly nodded instead, letting the tears flow.

"It's just, see, when I found out I was pregnant…I didn't take it very well. When I found out it was too late to have an abortion, I took it worse. Do you see where this is going?"

Lulu nodded understandingly. Her heart ached for the poor man; she knew this wasn't easy for him to tell her.

"I thought if I could just…not be pregnant anymore, my life would go back to the way it was. That it would just be such a relief if it…ended," Daniel wiped away more tears and shook his head. "But you know me, Lu; I'm not like that anymore. I couldn't bear to lose them, now. And you've helped, but I've mostly figured this out on my own. I don't i _want_ /i my old life back!"

Daniel looked down at gravid pouch, and softly rubbed his hand across its surface. Lulu said nothing as she watched this emotional confession unfold. She remained the quiet observer on the bed.

"You must hate me. I don't blame you; I kind of hate me too," he sniffed.

"Oh, cupcake," Lulu sighed, "I don't hate you. I appreciate your honesty. I had no idea what you went through at the beginning of your pregnancy. It must have been so hard for you. I only wish I knew what to say to make you feel better."

"Thanks for the sentiment, I guess. I just can't help but wonder if all that negative wishing has come back to bite me," Daniel chuckled, but cried harder.

He sat back down on the side of the bed. Lulu wrapped one of her tentacles around his shoulder, and gently rubbed his belly with the other. She leaned her head in close to his and kissed the side of his neck.

"Everything will be alright," Lulu said, not exactly knowing why she was saying this. She had no earthly idea what was going on with them at this point, but she thought it was the right thing to say. "I'm glad you came out of this safe and sound, and if something happens to the babies, we'll figure this out."

Baldwin nodded somberly, seeming less than convinced. They held each other, letting the minutes pass, neither wanting to move. Finally, the door swung open. Dr. Herrington entered the room with one of his assistants, shutting the door behind him.

"Oh Cod…" Baldwin whispered under his stunted breath. Lips kissed his forehead, petting his hair.

"Hello again, Mr. Baldwin," Herrington said.

"Hi," Daniel said, weakly.

"So," Dr. Herrington said, clapping his fins together, "good news and bad news. Which first?"

"Good news," Lulu spat out before Dan even opened his mouth.

"I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that the babies are fine. The ultrasound looked normal and the bruising is superficial. And it's safe to go to sleep when you get home."

The stiffness that Baldwin had been holding inside himself for the past few hours finally evaporated. He relaxed, every muscle unclenching in relief. Lulu kissed his cheek, equally relieved at this development.

"The bad news," Dr. Herrington continued, "is that you've got a bad case of whiplash. This is normal for anyone in a car accident, but I especially expected this after how you described it. But you also bruised your rib pretty badly, but nothing broken. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can really do for either of those. They'll have to heal on their own."

"Understood," Daniel nodded, breathing easier at this point.

"That being said, I'll have a nurse bring you some release forms, and you can get going."

No sooner had Herrington left the room then the seahorse and squid wrapped each other in a tight embrace. They finally felt themselves relax after around 4 hours of continuous tension.

"You've been so brave."

"So have you. Thanks for staying here…with me. I'm sorry about saying all that stuff-"

"Stop. Please don't apologize. I needed to hear it. And I still love you." She kissed him deeply and fully on the lips. His body rushed with energy and tenderness.

Baldwin pulled back, his face lobster red, "I love you too, Lu."

A nurse returned with the release forms and removed the seahorse's IV. Lulu Lips helped Daniel Baldwin change out of the tent-like hospital gown, and into his soft and worn Fish Styx t-shirt. They were both exhausted from an evening at such a draining place as Freshwater General.

"Come on," Lips said, "let's go home. I need a warm catfish on my lap and a cuddly seahorse in my bed." She gripped his hand in her tentacle.

"You'll get no protest from me, doll. I'm wiped out," Dan said, shouldering the gym bag Marc had brought him.

"You want me to carry-"

"I'm fine. Let's go."

After handing the forms in at the check-out desk, the couple swam wordlessly to Lulu's waiting car. They sat there for a moment, sinking in the quiet. Baldwin took Ms. Lips' tentacle in his hand.

"Lulu, can I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course," Lulu said, her heart clenched. What could it be this time?

"Would you…would you drive me to work for the next couple of weeks?"

Lulu laughed and socked his arm. He was so good at faking seriousness.

"As long as you chaperone the prom with me," she grinned. She said it so flippantly, but she'd actually been working up a lot of courage to ask him.

Baldwin grinned bigger. He chuckled and nodded.

"Sure. Prom. You've earned it, Lu."


End file.
